Leigh Athletic 5 - 2 Harton Stanley

Key Events:

• 13' Leigh Athletic Ramiro Alvarado scores
• 25' Yellow card to Harton Stanley Paulo Sousa
• 29' Leigh Athletic Emanuel Teixeira scores, assisted by Petko Markov
• 30' Harton Stanley Milan Beganović scores, assisted by Alejandro Toledo
• 35' Yellow card to Leigh Athletic Petko Markov
• 56' Leigh Athletic Petko Markov scores, assisted by Takeshi Nakano
• 72' Yellow card to Harton Stanley Muhamed Bošnjak
• 77' Leigh Athletic Petko Markov scores, assisted by Ramiro Alvarado
• 80' Harton Stanley Muhamed Bošnjak scores, assisted by Victor Faria
• 85' Leigh Athletic Ramiro Alvarado scores, assisted by Mark Liu

Expected Goals (xG) Analysis: Leigh Athletic scored five from 3.19 xG, a clear over-performance that reflected sharp finishing on a healthy volume of chances: 15 shots, 11 on target. Harton Stanley also finished above its 0.91 xG with two goals, though its four shots and three on target left little margin for sustained pressure. The possession figures leaned slightly towards the visitors, 53% to 47%, but possession did not translate into territory of the kind that keeps a defence busy. Leigh’s 14 tackles to Harton’s six offer another clue: the hosts were able to interrupt attacks and turn the match towards their own opportunities. Both sides made more of their chances than the estimates predicted, but Leigh had enough of them to make that extra efficiency decisive.

The goals arrived in clusters, with Leigh Athletic moving two ahead before Harton Stanley answered a minute after the second. The visitors kept finding ways back onto the scoresheet, including Muhamed Bošnjak’s 80th-minute goal, but Leigh answered that one too, with Ramiro Alvarado completing his brace five minutes later. The result was a clear home win, though the visitors’ two goals prevented the closing stages from becoming a formality.

• Harton Stanley had no standout performers rated 7.0 or higher.